Welcome to Survival of the Fittest, a RPing board loosely based off of Koshun Takami's Battle Royale, with its own unique plot and spin on the 'deadly game'. We've been around quite a while, and are now in our thirteenth year, so don't worry about us going anywhere any time soon!

If you're a newcomer and interested in joining, then please make sure you check out the rules. You may also want to read the FAQ, introduce yourself and stop by the chat to meet some of our members. If you're still not quite sure where to start, then we have a great New Member's Guide with a lot of useful information about getting going. Don't hesitate to PM a member of staff (they have purple usernames) if you have any questions about SOTF and how to get started!

Casing a building was a weird feeling. It was also fruitless in this case as Kimiko found out since the warehouse had no windows. She didn't like the idea of going into the building without knowing what was inside, but if there were any useful supplies inside she would kick herself if she didn't at least check. As she was about the head back to the entrance of the warehouse she heard the door swing open. Kimiko froze where she was stood and waited. Luckily for her whoever it was didn't go around her side of the warehouse, sighing with relief Kimiko slipped the glass shard back into her pocket.

Approaching the door Kimiko waited and listened for any sound inside. She couldn't make out if anyone was talking inside. The door itself was doing a good job of blocking any sound. Sighing again Kimiko slowly and as quietly as she could tried to push the door open. Instead of a helpful silent opening, the door made a shrill metallic screech. Kimiko instinctively froze, heart beating fast.

"They'll tell you failure is not an option. That is ridiculous. Failure is always an option. Failure is the most readily available option at all times. But it's a choice. You can choose to fail. You can choose to succeed."

She had taken out the glass shard as soon as the door had announced her presence. It was a defence in case her loud arrival had caused someone to attack her. Instead what she got were two voices she half-recognised. Abby and Cristóbal weren't bad people. If Kimiko was ranking people based on their potential for good or evil they'd both lean to the good side. That was in their world back at school however, now there was a lot more she needed to consider.

Being asked to identify herself by voice was a cruel irony. There was no way she could carry out the request. Instead she had to find some way to communicate that she didn't mean harm without using any words and in the dark. That was a big ask.

What made things worse was she had no idea what she wanted to say. Her plan had been to go in, get supplies and leave. That wasn't going to happen. Not when she was sharing the warehouse with two people who potentially considered her a threat and when you took the whole conceit of the game into account things added up to be problematic if she didn't give a satisfactory answer. Which led her back to the original problem; that she couldn't fulfill the request to speak.

Kimiko stowed the glass shard in her pocket. She didn't think having a visible weapon was a good idea. Onto the problem of announcing her presence; she had a flashlight. That was the only thing she could thing of that would be helpful. She took her bag off her shoulder while at the same time lightly tapping on a shelf with the knuckles of her free hand. She thought maybe sound that was coming from a consistent position would at least let them know she wasn't trying to creep up on them.

Eventually she fished the flashlight out of her bag and turned it on, making it sure it wasn't pointing at Abby and Cristóbal, she then slowly turned it over to her own face making sure it was held out to the side. There was no way not to light herself eerily but she could try. The she slowly placed the flashlight on the shelf next to her, making sure it pointed towards Abby and Cristóbal.

During all of this her free hand had gone back to the glass shard, holding it within her pocket.

The grip on her glass shard loosened and eventually fell away. They weren't a threat to her. Taking the flashlight in her other hand she moved around the shelves and into clearer view of Abby and Cristóbal. She nodded in agreement with the idea of finding something to write with. That was an idea that was useful, easier communication given her condition was a must. A pen and paper while not much use over a distance would be good for up close and personal discussion. In Kimiko's mind the idea of finding a form of universal communication was worth any of the time she spent looking.

Kimiko nodded at Cristo's suggestion, as she did so she moved the flashlight to look at the contents of some of the shelves, he was right. It was mostly toiletries or general supplies that must have been needed to keep the staffs’ residences stocked when the asylum had been in operation. As she ran her flashlight over the entire warehouse Kimiko realised her chances of finding anything to write with were slim. Disappointment started to seep into her mind, she knew it had been a long-shot but the hope had still existed within her that she would find something.

One deep breath later and Kimiko had turned back to the other two occupants of the warehouse. The thumb and index finger of her right hand rubbed either side of her philtrum as she thought about the best way to mime her question. Eventually she settled for tapping her wrist like she would a watch and pointing at Cristo and Abby before gesturing around the whole warehouse, hoping they were able to figure out her meaning.

How long have you been here?

If not she would just have to try again or move on. For now, though Kimiko was happy to wait for their response, the atmosphere in the warehouse seemed safe.

The information Cristóbal offered about who they had seen was good. They didn't seem to be in a high traffic area, which didn't surprise Kimiko. The warehouse while potentially useful probably put people off by only having one way in or out, combined with the lack of light and it wasn't an enticing place.

Kimiko nodded at Cristo's statement of what he planned to do, but didn't comment further upon his offer to join the two. She didn't know if that was what she wanted. Being in a group was good for safety on the face of it, but what if the stress of the situation got to Cristo or Abby and they killed her while she was sleeping? She knew it wasn't paranoia talking because the video they had been shown specifically hammered home that trust only got you so far.

A nervous pit opened in Kimiko's stomach as she shone the flashlight over some of the shelves. Despite wanting a plan ever since she had woken up and encountered Sandra, Kimiko was no closer to forming one. Half-ideas, only being able to be called ideas because they existed floated around in her head but offered no solid grounding in any merit. Just like her meeting with Sandra, Kimiko found herself agreeing with the idea of working together but being unable to commit herself to it.

Out of curiosity more than anything Kimiko shone her flashlight over a bag she assumed was Cristo's. There lying with it was a spear.

The nerves Kimiko was starting to feel were amplified by the discovery. A spear was better than her glass shard and it was far and away better than her megaphone.

Quickly looking over the shelves at Cristo, Kimiko considered her options. The phrase that had been in her head just after she had woken up returned.

She was starting to get an idea of what she wanted.

Taking careful, deliberate steps so as not to alert Cristo or Abby to what she was planning. Kimiko began to position herself so she could take the spear and run.

Kimiko absentmindedly nodded at whatever Cristo had said while taking another look at the spear.

She thought about what her decision would mean for her life. What would happen because of it? There were so many variables to consider. Kimiko couldn't even consider them all. But it bettered her chances and she wasn't hurting anyone was she?

She felt disgust at herself for even entertaining the lie. She knew the depths humanity could sink to. Her heritage was steeped in testaments to the overwhelming evil man was capable of.

The phrase from when she woke up cycled its way back to the front of her mind.

She felt his grip on her arm, the one with the spear. Her other hand fumbled for the glass shard. Kimiko didn't know what Cristóbal was going to do to her. In that moment her mind raced through all the things he could have done.

The panic overwhelmed her and she turned with the glass shard held tightly as if she was going to punch it with it. It plunged it into his flesh and Kimiko felt it puncture and pierce his skin, just below his ribs.

She saw his blood. It spilled out onto her hand and she yanked it back as if shocked by an electrical current. The glass shard still held tightly, her knuckles a bright white in contrast to the red.

His grip loosened, she pulled her arm free and without sparing a look back she ran for the door and out of the warehouse.